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2013/2014  KAN-CBL_GLOB  Globalization, New Trends in Trade and Business in African contexts

English Title
Globalization, New Trends in Trade and Business in African contexts

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Course period Autumn
Changes in schedule may occur.
wednesday 36-41,43-46.
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Max. participants 60
Study board
Study Board for BSc og MSc in Business, Language and Culture, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Søren Jeppesen - Department of Intercultural Communication and Management (ICM)
Secretary: Birgitte Hertz, bhe.stu@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalization, International Business, markets and studies
  • International Political Economy
  • Political leadership, public management and international politics
Last updated on 15-03-2013
Learning objectives
At the end of the course the students should be able to:
  • Outline key external and internal factors influencing the development of the private sector in African countries
  • •Explain and assess the relevance of various analytical perspectives on private sector development in an African context
  • •Apply appropriate concepts from the course literature in the analysis of drivers and barriers to growth at country or sector levels
Course prerequisites
Bachelor degree
Examination
48-hour essay examination:
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Group exam, max. 3 students in the group
Size of written product Max. 20 pages
Assignment type Report
Duration 48 hours to prepare
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and second internal examiner
Exam period December/January, Beginning of or mid December)
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content and structure

The course addresses a number of (recent) trends concerning the private sector in a range of African countries. On the backdrop of the last 50-60 years of development in the global economy and renewed political and economic interest in Africa, the courses seeks to outline a set of pertinent themes in selected countries and growth sectors. The themes include entrepreneurship, SME development, the informal versus the formal sector, FDI and private sector development, CSR, and state-business relations. The course intends to provide the students with an enhanced understanding of key reasons for the present high growth rates in some African countries and the challenges that other African countries continue to face. Furthermore, the students will be given a number of examples of how to investigate these phenomena.
Teaching methods
A combination of lectures by CBS faculty and guest lecturers. A particular attention will be paid to students’ active participation during each lecturer and through three voluntary assignments. Teaching and literature will be in English. The course will use cases at country and at sector level as a way to illustrate the private sector characteristics and dynamics in various parts of the African continent.
Student workload
lectures 33 hours
Preparation to student's presentations 10 hours
Reading of literature and preparation to examination 142 hours
Examination 40 hours
Further Information
The course intends to shed light on: a) the Hype on Africa and the private sector, b) that reasons for growth differ from country to country, including which actor(s) driving growth (or lack of same) and in which sectors, c) how these different trends vary among a number of African countries, including the role of informal and the formal sectors in driving or limiting growth and how the interplay between firms/industries and the state impact, and d) how we can investigate the trends
Expected literature

 Preliminary Readings (only first lectures):
Jorem et al, (2012), ’Understanding The Rise of African Business. In search of analytical framework for African Enterprise success’. Working Paper, The Centre for Business and Development Studies, Copenhagen Business School (www.cbs.dk/cbds/publications). At Learn
Schulpen, L. and Gibbon, P. (2002), ‘Private Sector Development: Policies, Practices and Problems.’, World Development, vol. 30, no.1, pp. 1-15. At Learn.
Moore, M., and Schmitz, H. (2008) 'Idealism, Realism and the Investment Climate in Developing Countries.' IDS Working Paper, No. 307. Sussex: Institute of Development Studies. At Learn.
The Economist: Article (on 6 of top 10 growth countries from Africa). At Learn.
IMF Regional Economic Outlook for Africa 2012 (selected data on country categories of growth). At Learn.
 Meagher, K. (1995): Crisis, informalization and the urban informal sector in sub-Saharan Africa, Development and Change, 26(2): 259-284 (26 pages). CBS Library.
Potts, D. (2008) The urban informal sector in sub-Saharan Africa: from bad to good (and back again), Development Southern Africa, 25(2):151-167 (17 pages). CBS Library.
Lindell, I. (2010): Introduction: the changing politics of informality – collective organizing, alliances and scales of engagement, in: Lindell, I. (ed.): Africa’s informal workers: collective agency, alliances and transnational organizing in urban Africa. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet/Zed Books: London, pp. 1-30 (31 pages). At Learn.
Meagher, K. (2010): The politics of vulnerability: exit, voice and capture in three Nigerian informal manufacturing clusters, in: Lindell, I. (ed.): Africa’s informal workers: collective agency, alliances and transnational organizing in urban Africa. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet/Zed Books: London, pp. 46-64 (19 pages). At Learn.
Whitfield, L. (2011), ‘Growth without Economic Transformation: Economic Impacts of Ghana’s Political Settlement.’ The Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) Working Papers series 2011:29, DIIS, Copenhagen. At Learn.
Mkandawire, T. (2001), ‘Thinking about developmental states in Africa.’ Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 25, pp. 289-313. At Learn.
Schulpen, L. and Gibbon, P., (2001). ‘Africa’s Real Private Sector.’ (Chapter 2, pp. 30-52), in Schulpen, L. and Gibbon, P. ‘Private Sector Development. Policies, Practices and Problems.’ CDR Policy Paper, Centre for Development Research, Copenhagen. At Learn

World Bank Development reports (selected years): Data on growth in Ghana. At Learn.

World Investment report 2012: Data on FDI in Africa. At Learn.
Last updated on 15-03-2013